Over the years on the live blog, we’ve encountered a seemingly endless supply of campaigns led by police and local authorities, urging motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians to ‘share the road’ and informing us that road safety is a shared responsibility.
Well, it turns out two US-based food influencers – and the restaurant they were eating in – didn’t quite get the ‘share the roads’ memo this week.
In a video that has already been viewed over 250,000 times, YouTube food reviewers Patrick Blackwood and Nina Unrated (no, I’ve not heard of them either) were getting ready to eat a typically overindulgent meal in front of a camera – like all good food influencers – at their favourite restaurant in Houston, Texas.
However, in a display of freakish timing, just as they took their first bite and made that daft, closed eyed food Instagrammer face, an SUV driver smashed through the restaurant and into the YouTubers’ booth, sending them and glass flying.
Bloody ‘ell. Thankfully, and somewhat miraculously, Patrick and Nina escaped serious injury, aside from a few nasty cuts and scrapes.
“We were laughing, having a great time, and right as we tapped our sliders together in a ‘boom!’ cheers moment, out of nowhere, this SUV came barrelling through the glass wall at 35-40 mph,” Nina said after the horrifying incident.
“No warning at all glass shattered everywhere, chaos erupted, and it hit right next to Patrick on the outside of the booth. We were inches from disaster, but by some miracle, we’re both okay, just shaken and forever changed.”
The video has, understandably, since gone viral, prompting cyclists and road safety campaigners on the internet to poke fun at the usual victim-blaming nonsense we hear when a cyclist or pedestrian is “involved” in a collision with a driver.
“Insert obvious joke here that isn’t really funny, about the food reviewers INSIDE THE RESTAURANT wearing dark clothes and not making eye contact with the driver WHO CRASHED THROUGH THE OUTSIDE WALL…” wrote city planner and regular live blog contributor Brent Toderian.
“Too many cars that are too big, driven too fast, often by people who shouldn’t be driving at all.”
“Yeah, they should have had hi-vis and helmets,” added cyclist Andrew.
“Let’s not demonise drivers! Was the restaurant wearing hi-vis?” asked another BlueSky user.
Believe it or not, some readers reacted to Pop Crave’s reporting of the incident – which described the food reviewers as being “involved in a crash” – by asking: “Why didn’t they get out of the way?”
Needless to say, that particular comment didn’t go down too well.
“Remember to look both ways before eating,” said one baffled replier.
“They should have been more considerate to the driver of that car and gotten out of the way sooner. Damned pedestrians sitting in their restaurants blocking people,” said another.
“And they were in a bike lane!”
“Comments under this are great,” write one cyclist, “Especially those along the lines of ‘Remember, traffic safety is a shared responsibility’.”
Meanwhile, another suggested that the police report of the incident probably featured something along the lines of: “Restaurant collided with a moving vehicle.”
In any case, it’s also important not to forget what the biggest problem on the road – or in your local greasy spoon – is.
“I saw a cyclist roll through a stop sign once,” said Stephen.
Remember folks, restaurant safety is a shared responsibility.